Posted in: Batman, Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics | Tagged: chip zdarsky, gary frank, geoff johns, Mind Bomb, three jokers

Final Mystery Of The Three Jokers, Revealed (Batman #143 Spoilers)

This Tuesday sees Batman #143 by Chip Zdarsky, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi and Andrea Sorrentino looking at The Three Jokers.

In Justice League #50 by Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok, Batman learned something from the Mobius Chair about the real identity of The Joker.

Which continued over, a little bit, into DC Rebirth from Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. That there were three Jokers, not just one.

And then the news that after these revelations, which would also see the Mobius Chair, giving the powers of Doctor Manhattan to The Flash and kicking off the Flash Forward series that would have reset the DC Universe again for 5G.

From all this, we would get The Three Jokers, by Johns and Fabok… but would it be in continuity with the rest? The hard-and-fast continuity of Doomsday Clock, so meticulously laid out by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, fell apart as a combination of delays, other creative directions, a new President and Brian Bendis set in. And the continuity of Doomsday Clock became a lot lighter, with changes to the Legion Of Super-Heroes and the Justice Society Of America – and even Black Adam. Jason Fabok posted regarding the continuity of Three Jokers, saying, "It's in continuity like Killing Joke is. You can take it or leave it. We will introduce some pretty gutsy stuff in Jokers that's never been done before. So the fans can react to it, and they can decide if they want it part of the main continuity or not, like Killing Joke."

The Three Jokers revealed that there were always three Jokers, not one, and new truths about both the Joker and Batman and was meant to answer all those questions you had about Batman: The Three Jokers' place in continuity. With one Joker remaining, Batman reveals that he keeps an eye on the Joker's wife and son – who live. Batman always knew who the Joker was – or at least one of him. And that Jim Gordon knew Barbara Gordon was Batgirl, but Barbara never got a chance to reject Jason Todd's advances, and Bruce Wayne found closure over Joe Chill.

Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok were meant to have been working on a sequel to their Three Jokers comic, called Batman Universe, which would have answered such canon questions. But Johns moved on to the Golden Age comics at DC, and both Johns and Fabok have now signed exclusively to work on Ghost Machine titles from Image Comics. Gary Frank, too. So it's probably off the table.

Batman #125, kicking off Chip Zdarsky's run on the series, included this image from a Batman dream sequence. There is a big Joker story coming with Mindbomb to follow Gotham War. The events of Justice League #50 are still meant to have occurred. Batman did learn from the Mobius Chair that there are Three Jokers. But everything else?

In Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War: Scorched Earth from Chip Zdarsky, Tini Howard, Mike Hawthorne, Nikola Cizmesija, Mark Morales, Wade Von Grawbadger, Arif Prianto, and Clayton Cowles comes the news that yes, it looks like it is happening.

With Batman saying he was coming for all three Jokers. And somehow all being present on the page.

But we have also seen Batman mentor Dr Daniel Capito from Batman: The Knight approaching The Joker as he emerges from the chemical birth canal.

This Tuesday sees Batman #143 by Chip Zdarsky, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi and Andrea Sorrentino along the way. There's a preview out and about, with perspectives of Batman in the future dealing with a Joker outbreak, remembering the time they were imprisoned together by Batman's backup personality Zur-En-Arrh, which has downloaded itself into the Failsafe robot it built. Fourth-world problems.

Dr Daniel Capito was all about consciously controlling the body with mental skills but also changing your brain to be a better fighter, person, ballerina, whatever. He failed at the latter aspect with Bruce Wayne. But he may have found another target with the Joker.

Because Batman #143 reveals that the big mystery behind the Three Jokers. That there are not Three Jokers, physically. There is just one Joker, with three versions of himself…

…but only mentally. They are backup versions of each other, living in the same body, Three Jokers, one cup, as it were. Batman #143 is published by DC Comics on Tuesday… and that is what he has always been. The Three Jokers of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank are now off the table… Mindbomb goes boom!

BATMAN #143 CVR A GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI & STEFANO NESI
(W) Chip Zdarsky (A) Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi, Andrea Sorrentino (CA) Giuseppe Camuncoli & Stefano Nesi The terrifying tale of The Joker Year One continues as a mysterious figure from Batman's past has come into Joker's orbit, changing the Clown Prince of Crime forever! And what secrets does the re-formed Red Hood Gang have for Batman's future? Retail: $4.99 In-Store Date: 02/13/2024

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